Portlandia

[www.newyorker.com]

Has anyone seen this? This sounds right up my alley--and it reminds me why I fled New York's Lower East Side 10 years ago to return to the land far upstate where people leave their pickup trucks running outside the convenience store (it's cold, you see) while they purchase crappy coffee and questionable breakfast sandwiches; where my dogs chase deer out of my backyard every morning and chainsaws buzz all weekend. . .

Sorry, I was rhapsodizing.

At any rate, has anyone seen this? I'm going to make it a point to DVR it.

Of course the whole thing is a bit "meta" too (or just plain ironic), what with Carrie Brownstein in it. And the SNL guy whose pre-NBC career consisted of doing an opening comedy set at Wilco concerts.



Post Edited (12-27-11 18:53)

Brownstein and Armisen?

Haven't missed an episode. I think we discussed it awhile back, but, being sketch-based it is of course uneven. Some will strike you as gems. Certainly translates well to any Uni town but specifically Portland-Seattle-Oly-Eugene-Ashland-Bend.



Post Edited (01-20-12 03:52)

Another Festivus miracle. . .

Like magic, Portlandia has appeared in the new streaming releases on Netflix.

Ha. I just watched the entire first season of Todd Margaret this morning (only six episodes, so it took under three hours) and agree with the assessment of friggin' brilliant. I DVRed it when it was on but for some reason never got around to watching it, so thank God it's on Netflix streaming now, too.

I also really like Portlandia. Like any sketch comedy show, it has its misfires but when it really nails something it's great.

Now, in a complete change of pace I'll spend the rest of the day off catching up on Breaking Bad.

breno wrote:

> Ha. I just watched the entire first season of Todd
> Margaret this morning (only six episodes, so it took under
> three hours) and agree with the assessment of friggin'
> brilliant.

I set up my DVR for the first show of the new season, and it's titled "Todd Makes It Worse".

I made it through a couple episodes of the first season, but found it got annoying pretty quickly. BUT, restarting at the same time is the second (and presumably final) series of "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret", and the first season of that was friggin' brilliant, haven't laughed so hard at a TV series since forever. But I think you'd really have to see the first series first (the two together take place over a two week span).

It was obvious on day one of Fred Armisen's SNL gig that he is a TPer. Look at him in the record store sifting through the Sex Pistols and The Jam in the opening.



Post Edited (01-08-12 11:09)

I don't watch much scripted TV anymore–I've been on a steady diet of football, futbol, baseball and basketball the past few years–but I've seen the random episode of Portlandia, Community and Louie now and again. Not always stellar, but usually worth the effort. I must admit to my surprise at how game Brownstein is to send up her public persona.

Now I'll have to see about that The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, too.

Portlandia has moments of absolute sublime hilarity, as well as some painfully awkward bits.

Come to think of it, so did living in Portland.

alright,
where's our Oregonian correspondent?

and the closest i've come to a 'margaret' show lately was Rutherford, of miss marple fame. 'Murder, She said', the first of four films with Rutherford; fittingly, sports beatlesque musical compositions/fragments from one ron goodwin.



Post Edited (12-30-11 22:46)

Watched first season of Portlandia on DVD last night. I think it's a ton of fun, though I think they are running out of objects of satire quickly. And Brownstein is just soooo damn cute. Not really good looking. But cute as hell.

Oh, the first episode of Season 2 is hilarious. You can watch the whole thing at [www.ifc.com]

And - sorry, Carrie Brownstein is not really good looking??

As a Portlander for the last 11 years, I'm mostly indifferent to the show. I've seen an episode or two and there are certainly some funny moments. My main complaint was that the jokes were just too easy or obvious. But some of 'em were pretty damn hilarious.

And I'll agree with nosey that, while Carrie is not exactly good looking, there's something very damn charming about her. Except when she's singing....

I agree with Rhett on this one. I think the jokes are a little too easy, plus I think it suffers from the same problem that SNL has...the skits are way too long. The jokes are beaten to death. Any humor that is there, is dragged out of it.
Todd Margaret on the other hand was hilarious. Cross can be a little too grating at times (you can see why he worked in small doses on Arrested.) It doesn't hold the show back too much though, there is enough going on around him.

As far as Carrie Brownstein's attractiveness, she is perfect for Armisen

The funniest joke I've heard from the show is one they didn't do. Carrie was on the local public radio interview show last summer or so and was discussing the episode where they do the adult hide and seek league (and that is indeed a subject ripe for the plucking here in Portland, what with all the adult kickball and dodgeball leagues). She said they desperately tried to figure out a way to work in an adult peek-a-boo league, but just couldn't quite make it work. I thought that was utterly brilliant.

Carrie Brownstein is a good looking woman.

> The funniest joke I've heard from the show is one they didn't do.

Is that the TV-watchers' equivalent of "Brian Wilson Disease"?